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Makai

#481 in 2025Boys' name

Variant of Mekhi

Makai has been given to 9,609 babies in the U.S. since 1989. In 2025 it ranked #481 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 626 recorded.

Babies named Makai, 2025

1 in 5,300

Makai over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Makai: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Mekhi

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Makai means

Makai is a variant of Mekhi.

Origin, language, and formation

Makai is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Mekhi.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 9,298 boys were recorded with the name Makai between 1989 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 626 in 2025; its best national rank was #481 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #550 in 2020 to #481 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #681 in 2015 to #481 in 2025.

In the United States, 311 girls were recorded with the name Makai between 1997 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 22 in 2005; its best national rank was #5,706 in 2005.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Makai?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 5,300
626 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 2,730
0.04% of boys
Rank, 2025
#481
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
3,672 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Makai sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 1002%
School of 5009%

Put another way: gather 3,672 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Makai. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Makais were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Makai was born before 2017 — so the typical Makai is around 8 today.

Median birth year
2017
About 8 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
42.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
97.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
9,298
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 42.2% of all recorded uses (3,921).

Is Makai rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+52
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+69
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+200
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.69×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (626)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
7.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#481
2025

Spellings of Makai

Makai is not the most common spelling — Kai is, with 36.5% against Makai's 4.8%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Makai is used

Across 2016–2025, Makai was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 633 boys, against 1 in 3,028 across all states with data. It was least common in Idaho (1 in 8,333).

12158 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Hawaii1 in 633
  2. 2Georgia1 in 1,471
  3. 3Maryland1 in 1,695
  4. 4Nevada1 in 1,786
  5. 5Florida1 in 1,961
  6. 6South Carolina1 in 2,083
  7. 7Utah1 in 2,128
  8. 8Virginia1 in 2,174

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Makai is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 76% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Makai around the world

Where Makai ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2000–2025
    #1,538
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2005–2024
    #1,390
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2005–2013
    #499
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Makai

People whose public names include Makai, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Makai by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#481
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 69
Best rank ever
#481
2025
Peak year
2025
626 that year
First recorded
1989
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
9,298
Count in 2025
626

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,706
2005
Peak year
2005
22 that year
First recorded
1997
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
311
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Makai

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

MakhiMakoaMaksimJakaiZakaiMakariMakelMakaioMakhaiMakyeMalakaiNakaiMakotoMaksymMakiahMakiMakanaMikaiMakarMakaniMekaiMaksLakaiSakai

Names with a curve like Makai

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Makai, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

JasiahMemphisJamirAyaanSorenSylasRayanZainAbdielTrippRoninCassius

Sibling names for Makai

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Makai

Top names of 2025, Makai's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2025Boys' names starting with M